Social

It’s no secret by now the AD Heather Lyke and Pitt have secured the services of Folger Consulting to help in the search for a new basketball coach to replace the fired Kevin Stallings. From today’s Post-Gazette:

Pitt has turned to consultant Eddie Fogler to assist it in its search for a men’s basketball coach, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Fogler was a Division I head coach for 15 seasons, leading programs at South Carolina (1993-2001), Vanderbilt (1989-93) and Wichita State (1986-89). He was named coach of the year in 1993 by the Associated Press and the National Association of Basketball coaches after leading Vanderbilt to a 28-6 record and an SEC regular season championship.

In 2006, he founded Fogler Consulting to help universities with searches. On its website, Fogler Consulting boasts to have “successfully placed dozens of college coaches across the nation at all levels of Division I basketball.”

I get periodic phone calls from a friend who is much more intimately knowledgeable about Pitt sports than I am and who is a wealth of information when it comes to the inner workings of the athletic department and issues that surround the athletic programs… and no, he doesn’t work for Pitt.

But this guy hasn’t been wrong once when he’s told me details of something that has happened or if something is about to happen within Pitt athletics whether is has been made public or not. His ear is to the ground in many different places and I trust his information.

Which brings us to what is so interesting about the hiring of Folger Consulting – in that while it was done with an eye toward who will be a good, or even the best, head basketball coach for Pitt , more importantly it is being done for strict vetting purposes to ensure that any prospective head coach doesn’t have any skeletons, large or small, in his closet who will turn the door knob and step out to throw egg on Pitt’s face.

Apparently a large part of the Folger’s work is in extensive background reserach which go much more in-depth than the normal vetting process a university will usually do for new hires. It is reported that Folger has contacts in various law enforcement agencies which can provide him background information not readily accessible to others and not found in regular background checks.

And we know how sensitive the University of Pittsburgh is with these issues as a normal course of athletic department business anyway. Hell, three of our most successful modern-day football head coaches were fired while clouds of suspicion regarding inappropriate behaviors or off-field issues swirled around their heads. This consulting hire makes perfect sense in light of that and how we know Pitt ‘s reputation is first and foremost the driving force in the university’s decision-making.

This isn’t really breaking news on any scale really and it makes sense. But it does magnify just what Pitt is contemplating about a new coaching hire- as opposed to what Pitt’s Basketball fans may be thinking – when it comes to candidates to replace Stallings. While fans are looking strictly at any prospective head coaches’ actual on-court coaching and recruiting abilities the university is drastically expanding their search criteria to encompass the whole 360° of the candidate’s life and past actions both on and off the field.

With the hire of Folger it appears that Pitt’s look at possible future coaches surpasses the coaches’ profession characteristics and is being viewed through a high-powered microscope. That is not a bad thing to do. Of course, it may winnow down prospective candidates and may even exclude some coaches who otherwise would be good for the basketball program as far as playing the game goes.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Reed Kohberger
Retired Coast Guard Officer with a lot of time on his hands and working a hobby that he enjoys and is actually free - writing.... on all different sorts of things but mostly Pitt football. You can see my more public articles and essays at WWW.pittblather.com, reedkohberger.wordpress.com and the new Pitt football blog www.pittpov.com.

133 thoughts on “This is Interesting… and a Good Thing”

I’m very happy with this development. Ordinarily I would oppose a search firm for the reasons Mark states, however, in this climate it is absolutely needed. With all the stuff going on I doubt if anyone knows who is really clea. Who’s dirty,yup, but who is really clean, probably not.
I am also encouraged that this may mean my guy may get the job. I obviously can’t be sure, but I’d bet Upitt goat that Grant is clean, and as I’ve repeated ad nausium the guy can recruit and flat out coach!

I love Folgers coffee…oh wait! Seriously, I know of these folks and they are top notch. Foglers will actually entice coaches to interview that may not initially be inclined to think Pitt. Great article and thoughts Reed!Good professional choice Heather!

ike and BigB, you are right concerning the reputation of consultants as wanting to drag things out and never be responsible for the decision. And then not being there later to watch the ship sink below the waves. But good businesses including universities don’t let that happen. The role of the consultant should be narrowly and precisely defined. In the case of assisting the school with the coach hiring process, tasks can be precisely laid out. Barnes may have poorly managed the Stallings selection process, or there might have been some questionable motives as have been previously discussed on this blog.

Laziness and covering her ass. A AD with connections and respected picks up.the phone and does his/her job. In our company we have a Plan A and Plan B for all execs and up. It takes rolling up sleeves and having a plan. Knowing Rockports was being fired since basically December a coach should of been teed up and the position filled already. God I should of been born 70
Years ago when people actually did the job they were paid to do.

Everybody has skeletons somewhere. I understand Pitt wants a clean coach but do not let that stand in the way of hiring a really good leader who had some traffic tickets. Remember the rumors of Dorsett’s car glove box filled to the brim with parking tickets. My point, check and get a good hard working coach and pay him or her.

Again,,,,,, you want Bobby Hurley. The other brother would be barely better than Rockports. SMH. Pay some money and get a winner. Not the forgotten Hurley who looks like he is doing 25 to life at Sing sing.

When you cook dinner for your friends and family and it is a disaster (Stallings) what do you do the next chance you get?????? You kill it and make an awesome dinner and leave nothing to chance. (The weak Hurley Brother) is not killing it. It is making pasta and the sauce is watery and the meatballs are burnt.

God forbid anyone question anything against King Pat and Queen Heather. Sad if some of you guys enjoy just saying nice things but this hire should of been made already. And I don’t want to hear they are still coaching. You can accept a role and coach your team through the tourney. Football Coaches do it all the time.

Facts – Love firing Rockports
Facts – Love fighting his money owed.
Facts – You knew you were firing him. You had weeks to contact and secure another coach.
Facts – Now you get a search firm involved because you have no contacts in the space.
Facts – Matta (Everyone thought she had in her pocket going to take Georgia job)
Facts – Wasting time allowed Uconn to get in the mix as well as GA.

One just once I’d like us to see what a Experienced AD does. Hire top talent and do it on their own and quick.

+10 Upitt – Dude, wrong career paths. Take a look at my comments. Too long, but same endpoint. Why does an AD use a search firm to perform extreme vetting of a coach in bball, but not all the other coaches she hired? Because she can’t make big decisions and own them. Enjoy my two cents below.

I like Hurley. He was my first choice. You will like the way he coaches and the way his team plays. He would be a good fit. Matta is another of my favorites. I think he would be a good fit at Pitt but there is a huge health risk.

March 10 Georgia parts ways with their basketball coach Mark Fox. Georgia AD has a plan and moves to interview his coach of choice, Thad Matta. March 13 Georgia offers Matta the job. Matta has 24 hours to decide.
No drama, no search firm just straightforward action.
Get the coach you want before someone else beats you to it.
The biggest obstacle for us….$$$$.

and this search firm from what I understand can do more digging. Heather being the compliance person likes to dig. She probably also wants some cover. I think the fee is reasonable given the risks. But she needs to make the final call. Her decision alone.

Info is limited, but I’m with JoeKnew – I hope we end up with Earl Grant.

I’d like a BB coach who is tough and demanding behind closed practice doors, but likeable and actually articulate in public.

My guess is we need a young, energetic guy like Grant if we’re going to bring in better players. Somewhere I read where someone who knew Grant well said “Everybody likes Earl Grant.” That’s why he’s been called an “ace recruiter “

4 years as a head coach, all at Marquette. Marquette plays in the Big East. The “New” Big East is typically a 5-6 bid league.

Wojo has a .550 overall record and a .431 conference record. He has been to one NCAA and one NIT, He lost in the first round of both. Granted he’s fairly young, played and coached at Duke under K, but…

Buzz Williams… ROFLMAO!!! He’s another Matta/Crean/Miller except he’s not as good of a recruiter. But what he has in common… he can’t bench coach worth )()(*&^.

Did you watch his game last night?? Like when Brashear fouled out? Makes a baseline move… gets cut off by the defender (pretty much expected) – and when you watched that type of play coached by a Howland or a Dixon the guards always rotated. No rotation. Brashear trapped… so it’s either turnover or foul. He fouled. End of game. Brilliant.

As I mentioned earlier, a source told me that Matta was ruled out by Pitt due to health reasons. So it doesn’t appear that Heather stood by while GA stole him out from under us. She deserves a little credit, and the consultant is a good investment to make sure there are no skeletons in the closet once a tentative decision is made.

Hopefully, the source isn’t in the athletic department. Discriminating against a potential employee because his back hurts, especially one that checks all the boxes outside of a physical limitation, will get Pitt in bigger soup than they already are. We can’t be that stupid. Okay, maybe we can.

Matta wouldn’t come here because he couldn’t trust the AD. Matta and OSU litigated. Our AD and OSU AD are two peas in a pod. Peas and carrots, Yadda and yadda.

I sure hope we get a good coach out of this. Heck, they can use a player coach, save the money and still not win a game in the ACC next year.

I’ve met some of you guys on the round-table and some of us have got together at the famous Fran and JoeL’s tailgates, so I know some of you guys and gal…… but some of you others I would love to meet cause I really want to know, who are you?

More coming out from the NY times on the FBI investigations. Not good for some people. Pitt has to be keenly aware that the next hire is more than BB but clean as a individual. The AD has a general idea who is in the hunt, but before moving forward, the list has to be above board.

Since some are posting who they wanted/want for the Bball HC job, i’ll chime in too. I was hoping for Matta. Thought he could hold it together physically for a few years, stabilize the program at a school with less pressure than he had at OSU, and groom an assistant to be his heir, like Howland/Dixon. An added bonus, would have been Pitt looking decisive by getting their man early instead of waiting until everyone else takes their pick. What a fool I am. Why can’t we have nice things, dammit!

I liked Matta and Hurley but I feel Matta would leave in 3-4 years to retire for health reasons. I also feel Hurley would leave for Duke, UNC, Kansas or Kentucky when their coaches get fired or retire.

I like Mark’s pick of Kyle Neptune. I also like Grant. I feel they could both stay for a long time while fielding a top 10 team.

If you pay an extra 1.5M I’d live on the street with pumpkin Head Barnes. He would of came with big bucks would of been my guess. We were at bar and it was 1:58am. Always reactive never proactive. Should be Mission Statement at Pitt.

Bryce was born in Louisiana while his dad was coaching there. He grew up and went to college in Valparaiso, Indiana in the heart of Big Ten country. Valparaiso is near Chicago. His only coaching experience was at Valparaiso. He’s spent most of his non-pro hoops career closer (geographically and culturally) to Pittsburgh than Nashville. Nashville is like the Austin, Texas of Tennessee.

If you are a solid AD, you have a list of candidates already in your pocket, properly vetted on the major issues. She has been looking since December!!!

Second, vetting is funny. Ever since Sandusky, universities all go through a more serious background check. This is not anything new as Reed points out. For instance, an FBI check would not have caught Jerry Sandusky. A basic background check would not have caught Jerry Sandusky. Most search firms have no special knowledge and candidly, the university may increase its liability exposure if it has the search firm doing the investigating. The search firm is acting as an agent for the university. Pitt better be careful or they will be in court for possible employment discrimination issues.

Pitt has people that can do the same thing with police departments. The Pitt Police is tied into the city police, fbi, tsa, state police, county police and the list goes on and on. Fogler isn’t offering anything new that isn’t already being done by universities directly.

This is all about being lazy as an AD, sorry. You can either do your job or you can’t. When you rely on others to do what you should be doing, you live or die by that. This is why you hire an AD, for specific competencies. She has revealed to Gallagher that big decisions are a weakness. Why didn’t she hire Fogler for any other position? Because they were small and out of the spotlight, yet the same risks are present. Smells like Barnes 2.0 with more due diligence.

The AD is paid to do a job. Do it! Quit looking for excuses why someone else should do it. She should know who was dirty in the shoe business. I knew over 5 years ago who was dirty, who played the game with the manufacturer’s and who didn’t. Jamie was and still is on the outside. So is Matta.

The “POV Commission” should be retained by Pitt to lead this search. It would have cost much less and yielded better results. I have no confidence that this hire is going to turn out well. Does anyone?

By the way, Pepperdine parted ways with their basketball HC at season’s end and this week hired the new coach, who by the way is coaching in the Big Dance later this week.

I hate to say this out loud, but I don’t think Pitt had a well thought out plan. I know non of use really know that for sure. But it sure feels Lyke history is about to repeat itself again. Look at UGA and Pepperdine – both executing hires within a short period of time. And neither could hold a candle to Pitt basketball over the past 20 years until former AD Barnes arrived at Pitt.

Decisions – you live and die by them. Pitt basketball is currently barely breathing and a good plan could have been the oxygen needed to thrive again.

Wow Pepperdine hasn’t won 20 games nor been to the Big Dance since the 2001-02 season and yet they were able to secure a HC who is coaching in the Big Dance currently, While Pitt dawdles with another Search Firm……that gave us an Otis last time around.

Only thing that stood out looking over Fogler….is his association with Vanderbilt.

And that didn’t turn out so well, did it.

(why is Vanderbilt always in the Pitt basketball equation?) (It’s like a stick in the eye since that terrible day
back in 1988, in fact we’re coming up on the 30th anniversary of that sorry day of March 20th, 1988)
I say fk Vanderbilt and anyone with ties to them

Agreed. Fogler was solid at Vanderbilt. I obviously don’t know all of Fogler’s consulting work but the work I’ve read about has likewise been solid. Hey at least the use of this search firm doesn’t appear to strain/breach ethics and hopefully isn’t being used to confirm a bias and provide cover.

Yes, I watched the entire game. I know that it isn’t the last play… normally. Despite an underachieving performance by PITT, it did comedown to that last play and after a time-out to talk about it. Porter still failed to foul Goheen when given the chance.

BTW, Porter in my mind still has the most impressive dunk in PITT BB history..

Another thing my POV buddy Barvo for the record, I’m really not the guy you think I am. When I feel like there is something to bitch about I can be the king. I just try to pick what it is that’s worth beating someone else’s ear for.. You know, just not for the sake of bitching, that’s not me… ike

I served with a guy in the Coast Guard and we used to joke about who had the higher security clearance. Turns out I did.

Well, he retired and went to work for a three-letter agency and the last time I saw him we joked around about who had the higher security clearance again. Two days later I got an email from him saying I cannot believe you flunked Spanish 1 three times in high school and that’s all it said…and it was true.

I called him up and asked if he used his agency’s information system to get that. He laughed and said “No I paid my buddy who’s a private investigator $20 to look into you. If you want I can find out what your first girlfriend Connie’s been up to.”

True story…

That’s kind of information some people have access to in people’s personal lives in America..and if you are willing to spend money you can get that sort of info on any potential hire.

Pitt is proceeding with the appropriate measures of insuring they have all the relevant information of any candidate. The AD is not a BB junkie here. But she does have enough experience to ask the right questions, voice the right concerns and will make a decision based on who she believes is the best hire. She is not a look at me like the last two AD’s. She knows what she wants.and will hire that coach. I feel far better about her process and approach than what typically happens with the image freakouts of the BOT. It is her call and she will make it. Winning and fannies in the seats are the priority. But the landscape is no longer the old buddy network. As Decourcy says Pitt doesn’t need a coach, they need a plan to work.

I still say the confidentiality part lays a big role here. Face it, most of the BB coaches that are being considered are in post-season tourneys and do not want the public to know if they are interviewing elsewhere. This is why you are hearing nothing about what’s going on behind the scenes, who has been contacted, etc.

and I’m pretty sure all of the potential candidates prefer working thru an intermediary because the last they want is for word to come out that they are interviewing for a job but ultimately not getting it.

Pepperdine hired an assistant coach from a sinking ship and Matta is out of work. That is how they accepted a position at a new school before their season is over. It will not happen with a head coach in the tournament.

If Pitt hires an assistant from any where they blew it. Only time you hire an assistant is if you are promoting one from your own current successful staff.

I hope Pitt doesn’t hire Hurley only because we will have to hear Upitt complain about him for his entire time at Pitt. I give you credit, you take to disliking a coach early and stick with it, LOL.

FWIW, the A-10 is the conference and they play pretty good basketball. A couple schools, VCU and George Mason, have made it to the Final Four. St Joe’s and Dayton have historically had decent programs and my Richmond Spiders have made it to the Sweet Sixteen a couple times. On a regular basis, they place 4 teams in the tourney.

Maybe because history has served Turd after Turd and wenwere called noise. Open your eyes. You act like we are the Alabama and only make good moves. The past 10 years in Football and Basketball have been full of did they really do that?? Moments. The facts are if Pitt could mess it up they did over the last few hires.

That was sort of the reason of my column here a couple of weeks ago about how we (the posters) have reacted to all of the crap hirings this decade. In 2009, we were a point away of a BCS Bowl and 2 points away form the Final 4 … then in December 2010, all hell broke loose.

I place most of the blame on Pedersen and Barnes …. as Nordy and Gallagher are academicians and pretty clueless about athletics.

The most recent head football head coach hired won 8 regular season games his first two years. Yet the cries are heard from Beaver to the Mon Valley and all points in between north and south. Yes, that boggles my mind.

but that’s my point. The college prez is primarily an academician whose biggest concern in athletics is that the program pays for itself. Thus, the AD has a fiduciary duty to represent the school and recommend to his boss the course of action that is to the best interest of the program. Nordy was entirely naive in this area. But the worst was Barnes hiring Stallings. Not only was the initial hiring ridiculous, the buyout amount only proves that Barnes was more representative of Stallings than Pitt.

As far as naivete … I can remember back in 03 when the ACC secretly raided the Big East to steal 3 of the conference’s 8 teams. And the then Duke President was absolutely shocked that the ACC would be viewed as the villains. She apparently thought that everything was above board.

all interesting comments as usual. i love it when reed chimes in on hoops & this topic seems in his wheelhouse. I do think first & foremost that hiring this guy creates an intermediary that allows both the school and the candidate the ability to deny ever considering one another. that can prove valuable(a point Paul Zeis made). but what strikes me (that no one seems to be mentioning) is could ADHL be using this consultant in an effort to determine if Coach Miller is clean (enough) to be brought in? It certainly seems as though the gig may be up in Tucson and that makes the climate much different than the last go around with his phantom visit to the 412 and all (didn’t a TV reporter fake news his visit? LoL). Finally the bitterest pill for all of us to swallow is the argument that the Uconn job may be more attractive than Pitt… Consider (1) the ability to win the conference far more easily (2) history of final 4’s (3) lower academic standards for recruiting. I for one believe that joining the ACC didn’t negatively effect our ability to recruit, it negatively affected our ability to contend for a conference championship year in year out…

I like him too. He had a very difficult start to the season and still had a credible team. Padgett would probably fit well in budget too.

Louisville was playing like crap in the first half of the NIT first round yesterday and Padgett turned them around. They were far more intense and active in the second half. I’d imagine it’s tough for borderline NCAA tourney teams, that become highly seeded NIT teams, to get up for the first round of the NIT.

Not sure we could pay but I think Shaka Smart would probably love coaching in the ACC. I’m sure he makes to much money but would be a big get and he recruited that area great for VCU or whoever he coached.

A friend is in the athletics dept at VCU. Shaka really did a nice job at VCU and did it within the rules (unlike his successor, Mike Rhoads). Fans would certainly enjoy his up-tempo, full court press game he used with the Rams.

Prior to VCU, Shaka coached at California St (PA), so he has a local connection to Western PA and has fond memories of the area. Texas was one of his short-list dream schools to coach at and it was not a surprise when he went there. May be hard to lure him away from Austin.

Ptbreezeb – interesting points. I agree that the move to the ACC didn’t have to hurt recruiting at all, but recruiting did go down hill under Dixon in a big way the last several years here, and you do have to wonder how much the move to the ACC impacted his approach.

He went away from his typical lunchbucket type of player in favor of softer, supposedly more athletic types, and it backfired big time, meanwhile Bennett had no problem sticking with slogball and effectively using the very types of players Dixon used to covet- in other words, there was no reason to change his recruiting philosophy, if in fact Dixon did that.

The only question to me was weather his recruiting problems were more impacted by a change in philosophy, or the loss of assistants. I think TCU recoginized Dixon’s recruiting weakness and supported him with good assistants to supplement recruiting from day one. But the bottom line to me is, every coach just needs to do his thing and stick with his style, so long as its well executed, a different style can work in the ACC and shouldn’t be a detraction for the next hire.

Using Upitt’s example above, I believe Shaka Smart’s style could work here too. I guess my preference for the next hire would be Grant, if I had 2 cents to throw in.

I tend to support Narduzzi and in fact have said that his recruiting is above average based on his below average salary. Stated more simply, the Pittsburgh Pirates cannot be expected to win World Series when their payroll is 1/3 of the actual participants. You get what you pay for. Pitt pays their football leader at 65th out of 130. Expect 50% results. Foe some reason, we expect more from recruiting and W/L’s. That is our reality folks.

Now, if you were to argue with me, I can clearly articulate that a solid AD can get plenty more funding from the Chancellor and BoT. The data points are accessible. The question is whether you have an AD that wants to collect a real nice paycheck and do little, or whether you have an AD that won’t accept her staff being paid at 50%. You pay for a “C” program, you get “C” results.

Same with Bball. To get a great coach, you need great commitment from the Chancellor and the BoT. The AD clears that path if they are good enough. Jury is still out.

With regard to using an intermediary, employers and vendors need to be smart. Pitt is only a lawsuit away from having all communications exposed, including those of a vendor. The contract has a confidentiality statement in it, however, there is also a note that says all matters will remain confidential unless they are required to be turned over through legal proceedings. In my opinion and if I was a plaintiff counsel, I would go after higher ed in this area.

How about we wait and see how this all shakes out before declaring it an unmitigated disaster? Give ADHL a chance to make the hire before you declare her search process a bust? Geez, you guys just tick me off thinking you know her methods and reasons. I really can’t stand the negativity. Can we wait for the hire to happen before we say it sucks?

So, last time I began supportive of the Stallings hire, which if I remember correctly came out of left field. I’ve heard about 8 names that have been mentioned as potentially good hires….Matta, Crean, Hurley, Grant, Musselman, Sanchez, Oats, Cooley. Let me know who I missed. So if it’s not one of these, and an obvious reach, below what teams like Georgia gets, can I say it sucks and represent SOP then?

Re. use of 3rd party search firms. In technical corporate world we used search firms to steal high level tech talent from each other and avoid complications and retribution from other companies. The legal view at the time was once the candidate was in the 3rd parties’ hands he was on the open market. We only paid fees on hires therefore we were not paying the 3rd party to go steal. During the integrated circuit/tech explosion about 1964 we went to Westinghouse in Baltimore and interviewed every respectable engineer/scientist,and manager/supervisor except the GM.Those we did not hire the head hunter peddled to another solid state firm. There are reasons for head hunters at times. Just make sure your guy is the best in the business.

Pitt did some live 11-on-11 this morning now that the pads are on, and the offense couldn't get anything going vs. D. Sean Idowu, Quintin Wirginis and Elijah Zeise were first-team LBs, while RSFR wideout Darian Street got quite a few reps with the 1s on O.